Personal Japan

I've been back in Japan almost two months now and there have been two things that have stood out to me that are rather personal people-watching experiences: doppelgangers and foreigners.

1) Doppelgangers

The last time I was in Japan I saw a Japanese double of a former girlfriend of mine. A week ago I saw the Japanese double of a former tour mate. The strangest one is my mother. I have noticed that there is no shortage of short, moonfaced old ladies in glasses who in more than a few ways visually remind me of my mother. I'm not certain if I only notice it more since she died or if that was always the case. Whatever it is, I notice that a lot now. It's interesting and even heartwarming more than it is disturbing or depressing.

2) Foreigners

Encountering foreigners on the streets has been an interesting study. Most of the time, I've noticed that foreign residents tend to A) act like you're not there, or B) have a subtle air of dismissive territoriality. No hint of acknowledgement, no smile, no reaction at all. You would think there'd be some bit of recognition for another obvious outsider or some brief, friendly human interactive flash, but no. The only exception was a chipper guy in the immigration office and black people.

Black people in predominately non-black foreign countries seem to tend to acknowledge each other. We're happy to see each other, maybe to encourage each other in this current phase of yet again being The Only One and S/He Who Cannot Blend In. Our eyes glimmer, our heads nod, and sometimes there's even a broad smile and brief conversation that would be mere disposable small talk in any other arena. It is a communion, a Celebration of Otherness, a five-second Juneteenth celebration on alien soil. Otherwise with other foreigners, it's usually a pageant of smug, a monologue of indifference – cold faces and dead eyes.

I don't consider myself a people-watcher in the way that some people consider themselves to be one, but this life/work situation affords me a great opportunity to practice looking outside of myself as well as inside.

On A T-Shirt

I've been quite remiss in posting since I returned to Japan to work. As usual, I take notes on English that I see on t-shirts and then share them. Enjoy the fruits of my labor!

• Iowa City Spirits Freedom
• Brighten the Light Sunbeam
• never stop drinking
• noon daylight railway
• Cheyenne, Wyoming: the equality state
• cymbal monkey
• get the champ
• pleasure: the important is feeling no complaints
• too much too soon
• highly salted [this was a shirt about surfing]
• the sweet party tonight
• Do you read me?
• cuteness beyond cuteness
• Chicago Beefs "One for da money!" [Chicago Bulls logo with dollar signs for eyes]
• Boss the kid, Franky Bad Boy
• Gorgeous in happiness
• The taste that has him enraptured [picture of a cow showing the various cuts of meat]
• hindsight is better than foresight
• raise one's face
• the brave forward traveling
• King of Heraldry: mankind live up you free again
• I like you for a long time very much
• Never give up creation U C [crossed out] me
• Three Deee
• Important Ideal Kiss Treasure
• notable jabberwocky
• HERE!
• NO WAR . . . but
• Vice Fairy
• Let's look at the sky
• Go on swimmingly
• Jazz is the soul of language

Dorkruary: Dwayne McDuffie 1962-2011

When I wrote my Dorkruary post about Dwayne McDuffie, I had no idea that he had died February 2011. In retrospect, the timing of my post was interesting.

He brought a lot of talented people into the comics and cartoon business. Another creative force gone, but not without having had some impact first.

Dorkruary: Inner and Outer Space

Life can sometimes get in the way of – well, life. I worked more hours and was saddled with more responsibility than I bargained for at a job that I have since quit; I finished one show and have been in rehearsals for another; I received and signed a contract to return to Japan in June.

While I'm getting some things out of the way and re-establishing focus, here are two more Dorkruary posts to peruse. The first is a brief testimony to the influence of science fiction on popular culture and personal inspiration. The second is a testimony to innovation. Uhura's influence and the next Dr. Charles Drew. Enjoy!

(Links are courtesy of Cool Chicks From History and The Milwaukee Courier.)

Dorkruary: Amendment

I'm going to adjust the terms of my project. I cannot commit to writing daily posts.

I left freelance writing because it had become a rat race. I love writing, but I gain more pleasure right now out of writing when I feel. Deadlines are not solid or significant. I hope someday to re-establish writing as a means to supplement or generate income and on as many of my own terms as possible, but that moment is not now.

One of my greatest frustrations is that I cannot do everything that I set my mind to. The limitation is not ability, but time. I refuse to believe that I must give up my passions to survive in this world, this culture and I shall continue to work from the basis of that belief.

It's all a balancing act, and I suppose that subjecting myself to such situations is my own personal form of defiance against a thing or two as well as wages of my life choice. I'm even having difficulty balancing improv, acting, and clowning prospects; all are things I like to do, all are things at which I wish to excel, all are things in which I feel I don't yet excel enough. I get frustrated with having an embarrassment of riches and having to choose one pursuit over another, but it's preferable to the alternative.

I will always be "black and nerdy" and I believe that I can still write well and eventually for pay once more (and for more than I did the first go). I just have to be okay with letting my writing ambitions take a back seat for the time being and push back the push back to freelancing and beyond.

Dorkruary: The Souls of Nerd Folk

There are few realms in which black people are lonelier than that of nerdity (curling and cricket still beat it out). Playing "Only Black Guy In The Room" tends to make for an easy game, and in the moments when black geeks encounter each other there is much joy, relief, and fellowship.

Being a black nerd/geek/dork is one of the many fields in the battle to broaden a limited, stifling, short-sighted idea of what Being Black means. A November 2011 article on CNN.com features a few individuals who relate experiences of being "not like other black people".

You can read it here.

Dorkruary: A Jester's Job

"A man may say full sooth in game and play." –Geoffrey Chaucer
"Jesters do oft prove prophets." – William Shakespeare
"Many a truth is told in jest." – common paraphrasing

Clowns, jokers, and jesters have, in part, always had the duty of and freedom to be poking fun at authority figures. As eras progressed to modern times, that realm grew to include celebrities (and our cultural fascination with them), government, media, and other institutions. Humor can be used to put one in one's place, to provoke thought, or simply to entertain and distract from the low moments of the human condition.

It is in that spirit that I present a pointed, socially relevant, metaphoric way to say "I couldn't care less." (or as some people incorrectly say: "I could care less." I doubt one is actually, intentionally saying that they could care less).

"I care about as much as the news cares about a black kidnap victim."

Be offended if you like, but it's true. Hopefully, thought provoked.